You can be cool and comfortable at home without getting hot under the collar because of your utility bills. (NAPS)

(NAPSI)—“Alexa, lower my energy
bill!” While it might not be quite that simple, did you know that now
your home heating and cooling system can be controlled through a smart home
device, such as Amazon Alexa? In fact, homeowners
can combine “smart” home climate control technologies with the
latest air-conditioning systems to significantly increase energy efficiency
and take customized comfort to new levels.

With home cooling accounting for nearly half of all energy use, costing
homeowners more than $11 billion each year, it’s clear why the American
smart home marketplace is exploding. In fact, the industry is expected to
reach $46.2 billion in 2018 and $112.8 billion by 2022. Household penetration
is 32 percent and is predicted to reach 53 percent by 2022, with an annual
growth rate of nearly 15 percent.

What Is “Smart” Home Climate
Control?

What is a smart home? A home with Internet-connected “smart”
products used to control, automate and optimize functions such as lighting,
security, entertainment and temperature either remotely by a mobile device,
smart speaker or separate home system.

When it comes to smart home temperature control, there are Smart HVAC
Systems and Smart Thermostats. Smart HVAC systems have built-in Internet
capability and can be controlled directly without additional equipment. Smart
Home Thermostats create “smart” systems by enabling remote
temperature control via a mobile or Internet-connected device or
voice-operated home automation system. Several leading manufacturers,
including Fujitsu General America, offer Smart Systems as well as a
Thermostat Converter, which can control their single and multizone
Halcyon and Airstage heating and cooling systems
using a third-party thermostat.

Boost Energy Efficiency, Lower
Bills Up to 25 Percent

Upgrading your system and installing a smart home thermostat can
significantly reduce your utility expense. The most energy-efficient heating
and cooling products on the market, ductless mini-split systems, can save as
much as 25 percent on your energy bill. Further, an efficiently controlled
thermostat could save an additional 10 percent a year.

Here’s how ductless mini-split systems work. Thin copper tubing is
used to pump refrigerant from an outdoor compressor directly into an indoor
air-handling unit, where the air is quietly distributed to the interior
space. This eliminates the need for basement or attic evaporators and bulky,
expensive ductwork. Mini-splits are easy to install and usually require only
a 3- to 4-inch hole through a wall or ceiling to connect the indoor and
outdoor units.

Customized Home Comfort Control

Take control of your comfort. Most HVAC manufacturers offer apps that
enable systems to be controlled from anywhere using a mobile device. Now,
voice-control capability uses digital assistants, like Amazon Alexa, to verbally dictate home temperatures—“Alexa, set the living room temperature to 70 degrees.”
For instance, Fujitsu offers a free FGLair app that
enables Web-activated control via mobile devices and now voice-activated
control via Amazon Alexa. And, by the way, to
promote their new voice-controlled Halcyon systems, Fujitsu is randomly
giving away an Amazon Echo Dot every week during August and September to
anyone who likes their Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/FujitsuGeneralUSA/.

Built for optimal customization, ductless mini-split systems let you
control the individual temperature in each room, so you don’t waste
money cooling unused spaces such as guest bedrooms, bonus rooms, sunrooms and
basements. Ductless systems operate at much higher efficiency levels than
central forced-air systems and window units, as duct losses in a central AC
system can account for more than 30 percent of your energy consumption.

The smart home revolution has empowered homeowners with the latest home
cooling systems and smart technology to create the perfect storm of cost and
energy efficiency and customized comfort. Many Fujitsu systems with the
Energy Star rating are more than twice as efficient as the minimum standard
set by the government.